MPS Guest Program

MPS runs a guest program for scientists (PhD students, post docs, or experienced scientists) who may be invited to the institute as guests to work on collaborative projects. The focus is on international collaborations. Requirement is that this research is closely related to the research carried out at the institute and that the guest is able to pursue their research in such a way that would be beneficial to MPS. The program covers all research areas of the institute, i.e. the topics of the three scientific departments Planetary Science, Sun and Heliosphere and Solar and Stellar Interiors as well as the themes of the current independent Research Groups. To be supported by this program interested researchers have to identify scientists at the MPS who are interested in in collaborating with them and submit an application to the institute accordingly. The descriptions of the working groups and projects of the departments and Research Groups (see links above) include lists of involved MPS scientists. Applications may be submitted at any time.

The duration of the stay is typically in the range of one week up to a year, in individual cases also beyond that. There are the following options for the support of the stay:

1. The guest finances their travel costs and the cost of their stay themselves; MPS provides office space with proper working equipment and infrastructure.
2. The guest finances their stay themselves, MPS covers the actual travel costs (and provides – as for all options - office space with proper working equipment and infrastructure).
3. The institute pays for the cost of the stay in the form of a daily allowance and accommodation allowance or a daily allowance and coverage of the actual accommodation costs (potentially of the travel costs as well). This is limited to 90 days and applicable only to particularly acknowledged foreign scientists.
4. This is restricted to foreign scientists and assumes that during the stay the guest does not engage in any professional activities that are unrelated to the purpose of their stipend. Foreign PhD students may receive a PhD stipend for up to six months, foreign post docs a post doc stipend for up to two years and experienced foreign scientists who are well established in the scientific community a research stipend for up to two years.